Dowsing for Divinity

I’m having so much fun trolling people who found the Feast of Dionysus at the Olympics “shocking”. Like, what is wrong with people?

If you look at photos of the event, it’s quite clearly Dionysus and the other Greek gods of Olympus, unless you’re completely ignorant of Greek mythology, or you assume that absolutely everything is related to your religion because you’re so incredibly ignorant of other religions and cultures.

Big blue dude with grapes on: clearly Dionysus

That said, if it had been a representation of the Last Supper, that would have been entirely appropriate, because Jesus hung out with people who were marginalized and despised by the religious establishment, so he would certainly have hung out with drag queens and other LGBTQ+ people if he was around today. Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin made this point very effectively a couple of decades ago:

Last Supper by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin

Pagans are not (or shouldn’t be) offended by this pageant, because Pagan religions celebrate life and pleasure, and the majority are inclusive of LGBTQ+ people.

I’ve also seen people complaining about the partial nakedness and saying that the hole in one performer’s tights was their ballsack hanging out (they would have to be seriously deformed for that to have been the case).

If these people studied Greek mythology they would surely be aware that one Ancient Greek festival involved a procession which included men with very large fish strapped on to their crotches to represent penises. These processions were called phallika. 

The phallus was ubiquitous in the ancient world

If they also studied Roman mythology, they would know that the Romans used to hang tiny winged penises in fruit trees in the hope that they would bear more fruit. (The trees, not the penises.) You can still buy penis charms and they’re called fascinus or fascinum and they are the origin of the English word fascinate (brings a whole new meaning to having a fascinating on your hat…)

A Roman fascinum

They’d also be aware that the ancient Greeks and Romans were very open minded about homosexuality, and there are beautiful works of art from both the ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans depicting gay men having sexual intercourse. For example, the Warren Cup.

The Warren Cup

If they had studied medieval art history, they’d be aware that there were many pictures of witches and nuns gathering penises from penis trees (bizarre but true).

If they had studied church architecture, they’d be aware of the Rude Man of Abson, and numerous Sheela na Gigs in Spain, England, Ireland, etc.

The Rude Man of Abson — photo by Paul

The Sheela na Gig at Kilpeck

So — a mere hole in someone’s tights exposing a bit of leg? That’s nothing!